The Other Side
by 0u812
Summary: After an accident leaves her in a coma, Snow is forced to watch her family attempt to live their normal lives without her. This is a different kind of OUAT take on A Christmas Carol. Definitely not Canon probably considered AU. No set Season in the timeline just know that Baby Neal is about 2 years old in this and it is Charming Family. Other characters may cameo.
1. Chapter 1

**I probably shouldn't be starting a new story, but this will be a short multichapter. Just something that I had floating around in my brain and when I wrote it down, it didn't seem too bad. What do you think. This is a different kind of take on A Christmas Carol, but is it worth continuing?**

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Chapter 1

The sounds were so loud. The red and blue flashing lights were so bright. I heard their voices. I tried to call out to them. I wanted to tell them that it was all ok.

"I don't give a rats ass! But you sure as hell better…" I heard a woman's voice yell. It was my Emma. Her voice was full of worry and anger. "Don't you dare puke in my cruiser either…"

Why couldn't I see anything? I heard my daughter's voice mixed among other voices. Where was she? Why was everything so loud and bright? I felt someone take my hand into theirs. The person used their other hand to run their fingers through my short raven hair. "Mom?" It was my Emma again. Her voice was now quivering with fear. I could tell that she was holding back tears and trying to stay strong. What was going on? Why was Emma so afraid? Why was my body numb?

"Can she hear me?" whomever she asked must have nodded because I continued to hear her voice. "Mom…Dad is going to ride with you. I have some things to take care of but then I'll meet you guys at the hospital, ok?" I tried to answer her but only a weak sound escaped from my throat. I could tell that Emma was no longer able to hold back the tears. Why was she crying? What was wrong with my daughter?

"Dad…" her voice was so loud when she summoned her father. I felt a jerk and a sudden fall. The movement pulled my hand from the grasp of my daughter's. "Be careful with her, you idiot."

"Emma!" I could now hear his voice too.

"Dad. I'm taking this asshole in to the station. I'll call Regina then meet you at the hospital." She still had that panicked quiver in her voice.

"Emma, let Thomas take him in and book him."

"No…" her response was sharp and offended. "I don't want any mistakes on this."

"That is the exact reason we should let Thomas book him. You are too close to this." I imagined the stern fatherly glare that I was sure that he gave Emma. To be matched only by Emma's own look of steel. The look that said 'I'm doing this and you're not going to stop me.'

"Ok, be careful." I knew that he would relent.

"Always am." I wanted to smile at her reply. That wasn't the first time that I heard her utter those words to her father. I felt a gentle kiss being laid upon my forehead. "Hang in there, Mom. I love you." That was when my world went black.

* * *

I sat up in my bed. It was still pitch black outside. But the room wasn't as dark as usual. There was a window to the left that looked out into a hallway. It was what was allowing light to give a dull illumination to the room. I looked to my right, where was charming? Where was the other half of my full size bed? The wall of windows on to the right was how I gauged the late hour of the night. I looked around the bedroom; no correction; hospital room. Why was I in the hospital? I felt fine. A little tired maybe, but I'm the mother of a toddler. Tired comes with the territory.

I looked around the hospital room. I frowned when I saw my daughter curled up on the chair that sat in the corner. Her head was leaning at an angle that was sure to make her neck stiff in the morning. But yet she still looked so beautiful. I hated to wake her, but I knew that if I didn't get her to at least shift to ease her neck she would make Grumpy seem pleasant when she awoke.

"Emma" I called out to her in a loud whisper. "Emma, honey, wake up." I looked around, specifically into the hallway to see of anyone was close by. I was trying to determine if I would disturb anybody if I talked a little louder.

"Emma…" I said in my full voice. She still didn't move. My first thought was to throw something at her so that I didn't have to get out of bed, but I couldn't find anything soft enough. I could only imagine the string of curse words she would hurl at me if something hard, or wet, hit her. However, I did chuckle at the thought.

"Emma, honey…" I tried one more time with no success. I let go of a heavy sigh before I finally gave up. I swung my legs to the side of my bed and pushed myself to my feet. I thought that maybe, once I stood, I would understand why I was in the hospital, but no. Still felt fine.

I padded across the room toward my daughter. I stood there for a minute and just took in how peaceful she looked. Her long blonde curls hung down over her shoulders. Both of her legs were hanging over the arm of the chair and she had a hospital blanket draped over her lap. It looked like a nurse had brought it in for her once she was already asleep. My heart ached a little when I noticed that her boots were still on her feet, I knew that she couldn't have been comfortable, which meant that she was only asleep because exhaustion took over.

I crouched down in front of her, "Emma, honey, wake up. You need to shift so that you don't hurt your neck." She didn't move. She didn't even grunt. Something was not right. "Emma…" I reached out to give her knee a little shake. I gasped when my hand seemingly went through her. I quickly pulled my hand back in panic. "Emma, wake up" I yelled. What was going on? What was happening to my daughter?

"Help" I turned toward the door, in a world with magic, my daughter was disappearing. "Somebody, help me" my panic turned to screams. Why was no one coming to help? I spun on my heal thinking of the call button. I hurried to the hospital bed franticly looking for the device. I needed to get someone to my daughter right away. Why couldn't I find that damn call button?

"The other side," I whispered to myself. I leaned over the bed to reach for the cable that was tethered to the button. But it was soon forgotten when I looked down at the mattress. My hand flew to my mouth as I screamed a scream that was sure to get the attention of everyone in the hospital. But no one came in response. My breathing turned to hyperventilation. I looked back at my daughter, realizing why my hand went through her knee. She wasn't disappearing. Tears rolled down my cheeks as turned back to look at my tattered body that was lying on the hospital bed.

My face was bruised and swollen. It was barely recognizable. Stitches hid among my hairline. My arm laid next to my side wrapped in a plaster cast. I didn't dare try to lift the blanket to assess the damage to my body that lay beneath. No my daughter wasn't disappearing, I was? I was letting go of this life to move onto the next.

I was pulled from my shock when I heard Emma finally shift in the chair. I looked over to her. Her eyes were open and she reached up to rub her neck. "Shit," I heard her mumbled as she rubbed the muscle through the pain. I watched as she pushed herself up on the chair. She reached for her phone, I'm guessing to check the time. With a grunt she put the phone back on the table next to her chair.

She swung her head from side to side in an attempt to crack her neck. I cringed when I heard a loud pop, but relaxed when I heard a relieved sigh escape her lips. After a short stretch of her arms, she lifted herself from the chair and made her way to my bedside. She pushed of couple of strands of hair from my forehead.

"I hope you're comfortable in there, because on the outside, you look like shit." Leave it my daughter to put things so eloquently into words.

"Emma!" I chastised her expecting her to turn around with an apology. But she didn't flinch. She didn't hear me. She didn't see me either. She only saw my battered shell on the bed.

"I made Dad take Neal home. Little bro just didn't understand why Mommy was still here. I tried to explain it to him, but I think that I just made things worse. " I watched her closely as she sat down on my bed and took my hand into hers. She looked shattered. She was trying so hard but she was barely holding it together. Her eyes were puffy, her movements were slow. She looked like she hadn't slept in weeks. In weeks…weeks? Still here? Wait, how long had I been in the hospital?

"I don't know how to do it, Mom." My heart broke at Emma's confession. "I don't know how to give Dad hope. I don't know how to tell Henry that everything is going to be ok. I don't know convince Neal that Mommy will be home soon when I'm not sure that I believe it all myself." I wanted to so badly to pull her into a hug. I wanted to tell her, to show her, that she had it in her to do all of those things. But she couldn't hear me. I wanted to wipe away the tear that rolled down her cheek.

"Excuse me," Emma hastily wiped her tears at the sound of the nurse coming into the room. "I'm sorry, but I need to check her vitals."

"No, of course…" Emma moved from the bed and back to the chair as the nurse wrote down her findings in the chart. "You should go home, sheriff, you need to rest as well."

"No, I promised my Dad that I would stay here. He took my little brother home. He'll stay tomorrow night. I…um…I don't want my mom to be alone."

"I understand…I would do the same if it were me." They nurse gave my daughter an understanding smile, which to my surprise, Emma returned. "I'll put an order in for a breakfast tray to be sent up."

"Thank you, but I'll be fine. I'm sure that my Dad will bring me something in the morning." Emma rubbed her eyes and covered herself again with the blanket.

"Maybe just some coffee then," the nurse ended. It amused me that Emma did not decline the coffee. She loved her hot drinks…coffee…hot chocolate. Although I was a little surprised that she didn't ask for hot chocolate instead, but then again, that was our thing. We had hot chocolate together every night.

* * *

"Emma," My attention was pulled to my daughter by the sound of his voice. Charming had come through the door holding Neal in his arms. The small boy looked so adorable dressed in his flannel shirt, overalls, and a small pair of golden work boots. His little arms reached out for his older sister and their father gently shook her shoulder to wake her. My heart melted as his older sister instantly reached for him just the same. She even had a small smile on her face.

"Any change?" I stood in the corner and watched my children and their father interact with each other. Emma had Neal on her lap with her arms wrapped around him as she reached to retie his boot. Charming had crossed the room to my bedside and planted a kiss on my swollen lips.

"No," her small smile faded away. "There hasn't been any change in two weeks."

There it was; the answer to my question. It had been two weeks that I had been in the hospital. I couldn't remember what had happened but I could tell that the situation was taking a toll on my family.

"I brought you a bear claw. Granny packed it for you when I went for the hot chocolate."

"Thanks, what about you?"

"What about me?" he didn't look at her.

"Dad…" he finally turned to face her.

"Emma…I'm fine" he curled his lips into smile. I recognized that smile immediately. There was a special crookedness to his charming grin whenever he looked at his children, specifically Emma. The smile that he reserved for Neal showed his teeth just a little bit more. "Granny took care of Neal and I this morning too."

She gave him a sideways look that clearly said that she didn't believe that he ate anything. But she let it drop. "Did you get any sleep last night?" She stood from the chair and crossed the room to stand beside her father with Neal perched on her hip. Charming snaked his arm around his daughter's waist and pulled her close to him.

"Yeah, actually, I did. I put Neal in bed with me, and we kept each other company until we both fell asleep. Right, little guy?" Neal giggled as Charming reach up to tickle his belly.

Emma nuzzled her nose into the side of Neal's head and gave him a quick kiss, "Did Daddy sleep with you last night?" She smiled when he nodded enthusiastically. I hid my grin behind my hand. Emma was taking Neal's word over her father's.

"Good morning, Charming family," everyone turned their attention to Dr. Whale as he entered my room. Charming eyed him suspiciously as the doctor read over my chart and jotted down some notes. "Well, I see that things are status quo, this morning." Dr. Whale placed the chart back on its hook then checked some of the settings on the monitors. "Things are looking the same, but I would like to speak with both of you in my office. Meet me there in ten minutes?"

Father and daughter looked at each other; panic was definitely in each of their eyes. But it was Emma that finally answered, "ok. We'll be there in a bit."

* * *

I followed my family to Dr. Whale's office. I stood in the corner behind the door while Emma and David occupied the two chairs in front of his desk. Neal sat in Emma's lap, his attention was held with a game that he was playing on Emma's phone. I made a special note of the fact that Neal hadn't left his sister's side since their father brought him into my hospital room.

"Emma, David…thank you for meeting with me," Dr. Whale said as he entered the room and moved to sit behind his desk. He had a file in his hand that he quickly perused before he began to speak. "I've been reviewing Snow's case. And although there hasn't been any decline, there hasn't been any real improvement either. She is not on life support but she is in a coma, which her body is using to heal itself, unfortunately, I can't give you a time table on how long she is going to be in the coma. It is not medically induced, so it isn't something that we can attempt to bring her out of."

"Cut to the chase, Whale. What are you trying to say?" Charming was quickly losing his patience, if he even walked into the office with any. Emma placed a calming hand on his arm then gave the doctor a looked that urged him to continue.

"What I'm saying is that it is time for you two to resume your normal activity."

"What? You want us to forget about her and just move on like she's dead?"

"Dad…" Emma admonished.

"What?" he didn't take his glare off of Whale.

"That's not what he is saying." Charming finally moved his eyes to his daughter. "Mom has been in a coma for two weeks, there hasn't been a change. One of us has been here 24/7. He is simply suggesting that we need to live our lives while Mom is healing."

Charming dropped his face to his hands. He rubbed his eyes a bit before he lifted his head up and away from Emma. He used his fist to hold his chin up. From my vantage point I could see the tears glistening in his eyes. He was trying so hard to not let them fall in front of his children. Neal picked up on his father's despair and crawled from Emma's lap to his, forcing him to look back toward the group. As the little boy wrapped his arms around his father's neck, Emma rubbed her hand up and down her father's back. "It isn't good for us to spend every waking moment here, it isn't good for Neal. We need to get back to our lives."

"Why is this so easy for you?" The tears were definitely falling now when he yelled at Emma.

"This is anything but easy…" she yelled back. "But we both have children to think about here. We have a town to think about, remember we are the Sheriffs here. I want nothing more than to take Mom home and have everything back to normal, but that isn't our life at the moment."

With one last squeeze to Neal, he stood and handed the toddler back to his sister.

"Dad?" Emma stood as she accepted the boy into her arms.

"Take him to your place. I want to spend a little more time with your mother." He paused to give each of his children a tender kiss on their foreheads. "I'll be home later." On those final words, Charming left the office leaving Emma, Neal, and Whale standing in uncomfortable silence. I looked at my babies once more and wished that I could pull them both into the strong motherly hug that they both needed. I was grateful that Neal had Emma, but they both needed their mother.

When they finally left, I followed my husband back to my hospital room. I was torn on which direction to go, but gut reaction was to follow Charming. I couldn't help but wonder why this was happening. Why was I in the position to watch my family go through this hardship? Was I supposed to learn something from this? What was the point? I loved my family with my whole heart, I didn't want to leave them, but yet I couldn't help but feel, that I was being forced to make a decision on whether I was to live or die.

I wished for someone to please give me a sign; to tell me what I was supposed to learn from this.


	2. Chapter 2 - Hope

**Here is the next installment. A _HUGE THANK YOU_ to everyone to read, reviewed, favorited, or followed this story. I am very humbled. I hope that this chapter lives up to your expectations. I have read this so many times, I think that I am starting to read the typos as if they are correct. So please be patient with me as I walk away from it for little while to that I can reread it later with fresh eyes to correct any mistakes.**

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Chapter 2 - Hope

I followed my family as they walked down the street towards Granny's. The December morning had a chill in the air that was helping to set the mood for the holiday season. Henry had gotten on the bus headed for school and Emma was carrying little brother. "Neal, look at that one," when I heard my daughter's voice, I glanced to where she was pointing to see an animatronic Santa and Mrs. Claus sitting on rocking chairs in the window of Sneezy's pharmacy. In the years since the curse had broken, it had become a tradition in Storybrooke to decorate the store front windows for the holidays.

"Santa…" he yelled. He was full of excitement. He put a little hand on each side of Emma's face to make her look directly at him. "Memma…its Santa." Oh his joy was so infectious. And I was missing it. Well, maybe missing it wasn't the right word. I was able to see it all, but my heart broke a little that I couldn't share in this joy with my children. I wondered if I would remember it all when I actually woke up from the coma or would it feel like a dream that would be forgotten way too quickly.

"Yeah, I see that buddy." She snuck a quick kiss onto his little nose that was rapidly turning red in the cold weather. She used the quick motion of her hand to fix his hat, too. A simple tug on the back of it pulled it from covering his eyes. "I have an idea. How about…tonight…when Henry is home from school and me and Daddy are done with work…we will all take a walk around Storybrooke to see all of the decorated windows."

"Yeah…" he clapped with glee.

She turned to her father, "What do you say, Dad?" I was curious to see what his answer would be because he clearly was not paying attention to conversation that his children were having about their evening plans. As a matter of fact, he hadn't looked at them or even spoken to them the entire morning. His mind was out in left field and that seemed to be where it was staying. It was amazing that he was even keeping in step with Emma.

Just as I suspected, he didn't answer. I could read the look of disappointment on Emma's face like a book. Her mouth dropped opened, her eyebrows went together, and she started to tilt her head in a way that indicated that she was about question him. Whether it be out of concern or anger, either way it was coming. Until the jingle of Granny's door broke through her thoughts.

"There's my little man." A smile formed on my face at the sight of Ruby, my oldest and dearest friend. She always had a way of taking care of me, even when she or I didn't know it.

"Hey, Ruby…" Ruby reached out take Neal from Emma, but his little arms clung tighter to his sister's neck. But my Emma handled the situation like a pro by holding the little boy close as she handed his bag off to the tall woman with bright red streaks in her hair. "Here is his bag; I put extra clothes in there, just in case."

"Look at you turning into mother of the year." I knew that Ruby meant it in a lighthearted way, but I couldn't help that it felt like stab to my chest. My daughter was turning into my son's surrogate mother and there was nothing that I could do about it. Emma, of course, laughed it off just before she leaned into the little boy and whispered something in his ear. With a short kiss and a smile he released his grip on Emma and reached for Ruby.

"Remember, we have a date tonight, right?" Neal smiled and nodded his head with enthusiasm.

The women shifted their attention to David. He was standing there with his hands buried deep into his pockets. There must have been something very interesting about the pebble that he was staring at on the sidewalk. It was just a small swing of his foot that sent the pebble tumbling in the direction of Emma's shoe. Emma looked down at the small stone then brought her gaze back up to her father. She was obviously expecting him to say something but when he remained mute she huffed, "Around 5?"

Ruby gave her a sympathetic look then nodded. "Bye Neal, be good for Ruby and Granny…" Emma called out in a friendly voice. I jumped back a bit when she did a complete 180 on her father, "What the hell was that?" Her back was straight as steel and her hands settle hard on her hips. It was a stance that I had seen her father use whenever he wanted to get his point across.

"What?" The way that he said the word was awing; as if he had no idea what his daughter was questioning. What was going on with my husband?

"What!? Really? You didn't even say good bye to him. I know that Mom being in the hospital is hard on you, but guess what, Dad, it is worse on Neal. He doesn't understand what is going on or why Mom hasn't come home yet."

"Can we talk about this later?" He looked at everything but his daughter.

"No." She countered. "No, we can't talk about this later; we'll talk about it now."

"No, we won't." His response was stern. He didn't give her time to react. He turned on his heal and jetted across the street, leaving Emma standing on the sidewalk outside of Granny's in open-mouthed shock.

"Where are you going?" It was an angry question that she yelled to her father who was walking away at a rapid pace in the opposite direction of the station. He didn't answer. He didn't acknowledge her in any way. He just continued to walk. A loud 'err' rumbled out of her chest while she threw her arms up in disgust and stomped her way to the sheriff station.

"Wow…I've seen that reaction before…" I jumped at the sound of the man's voice behind me. Where did he come from? It had only been Emma and Charming present once Ruby took Neal inside the diner. Which meant that the man was talking to me; eyes wide, I slowly turned to look over my shoulder. Neal, not my Neal but Emma's Neal, was standing there with a stupid grin on his face. "Nice to see that some things never change."

"Neal?"

"In the flesh…well…in the spirit, I guess." He kept his hands in the pockets of his wool coat, but that didn't stop him from using them to gesture toward Emma. "What's her problem?"

I released an exasperated sigh, "her father."

"Well, at least it isn't me this time." His cheekiness was not something that I needed at the moment.

"What are you doing here?"

"You wished for guidance, so here I am. I'm here to guide."

I took a minute to look him over. I don't know why I was bothering to entertain this figment of my comatose imagination, but when he smiled and raised his eyebrows at me, I understood how he won Emma over so easily in her youth. He had an adorableness to him that instantly reminded me of my grandson, Henry.

I closed my eyes for a second and pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger. "I made that wish days ago," I breathed out.

"Yeah, well, paper work is a little behind on the other side. It's so hard to get good help these days."

"What do you want Neal?" Now he was wasting my time. I had husband and a daughter to keep tabs on.

"It's not what I want, it's what you want." With a snap of his fingers, we were no longer on the street outside of the diner. No, we were at the hospital, more specifically my room. I was surprised to find it empty, with the exception of my sleeping shell of a body. I had expected to see Charming sitting in the chair, willing me to wake. But instead, I was alone. Where did he stomp off to?

"What are we doing here? Aren't you supposed to be helping me with my family?"

"You read too many books," he laughed. He turned more serious when I didn't return his glee. "No, I brought you here to show you yourself. How long you stay in this bed is up to you. You need to make a choice to live or die."

"I want to live. There we're done. You can go back to whence you came."

"Ha. Now I see where Emma gets it…"

"What?"

"Nothing."

I was done with his antics. He said that I had to choose, well there was no choice to be made. I wanted to live. So, it was time to fix this little situation and I knew how to do it. I triumphantly straightened my back and walked directly toward my bed. I sat on the side of the bed, just as I had before I lifted myself to check on Emma several nights ago. This time, instead of swinging my legs to the floor, I lifted them to the bed. I aligned them perfectly with my shell that laid still; gently I lowered the rest of my body into my shell. "There, I'm back in my body, we can end this little charade."

"Um, no you're not." I snapped my head in his direction. He stood there hiding a smirk behind his hand. I sat up and tried again making sure that my body was perfectly in line with the shell. I sat back gently and he laughed a little harder.

"Why are you laughing? I made my decision, now help me get back into my body." At this point, I wasn't even trying to hide my annoyance with this man.

"Sorry, it's doesn't work that way."

"What do you mean…it doesn't work that way?"

"Exactly what I said, it doesn't work that way. The moment that you sat up and stepped away from the body that is in this bed was the moment that you succumbed to the 'what if.' You have that nagging wonder that keeps making you want to know what would happen if you did die."

"I have never seconded guessed that." I was appalled that he could even suggest such a thing. "Why would I ever wonder that? The last thing that I want to do is leave my family. My life is nothing without my family."

"You're life wouldn't be your life anymore." I felt the wind leave my body, like he had just kicked me in the lungs. "It is human nature to wonder what would happen if the worst would occur."

I wanted to deny his accusation, but I couldn't. I would be lying if I said that I never wondered if Charming would be able to raise Neal on his own or if Emma would build her walls back up higher and stronger. I secretly hoped that I had done something right for my family and that I wouldn't have to worry about them. But I did worry. Maybe that is what comes with being a wife and a mother.

I stood from the bed and looked down at my tattered body. I looked so helpless. The monitors kept their steady tones, ensuring that I was still in stable condition. And as much as I didn't want to give in to what Neal was saying, I had no choice.

"So what do we do now?"

"Follow me," he said. With the snap of his fingers we were gone.

* * *

"Wha…what are we doing here?" With the snap of his fingers, Neal had poofed us from the hospital room to Henry's classroom at school.

"I think that you know the answer to that question." We were standing the back corner of the classroom just by the doorway. The position gave an excellent view of the substitute teacher; who had been filling in during my absence; and the kids who filled the room. They were all attentively listening to the teacher and taking notes. Save for one boy who was sitting away from the others. Henry was slouched down at his desk fiddling with the pencil that was in his hand.

"Henry, pay attention," I admonished. Habit I guess, because the boy certainly couldn't hear me.

"The kid reminds me of myself, at that age. I think that I paid attention in school about has well as he is right now."

I glared at Neal. It wasn't just a mother glare; it was a mother mixed with grandmother mixed with teacher glare. The kind of glare that made Neal flinch when he saw my face; "Not, helping."

"Right…" Neal stepped back a half of step, "so anyway. I have no idea what is up with the kid."

"Then why did you bring me here?"

As if I wasn't annoyed enough by his actions his only answer to my question was a shrug of his shoulders. I rolled my eyes and walked away from him towards my grandson. "That right there…" I heard him say, "That was pure Emma."

"Shut up, Neal. We're not here for you to make comparisons between me and my daughter." As I approached Henry, I looked over his shoulder to the open notebook that sat on his desk. At the top of the notebook page were some notes that he had begun to write at the beginning of class, but those notes were short and soon stopped. The writing morphed into doodles which transformed into a castle surrounded by mountains and a lake. It reminded me of our castle back home in the Enchanted Forest.

I was taken aback at how well he drew my former home. I looked up to smile at him, but noticed that he was now staring out the window. I could tell that he was trying to see that far off land. He was daydreaming of that castle and what his life would have been like had we all gone back to the Enchanted Forest after the curse broke.

"Oh, Honey…" I reached out to touch his cheek. I knew that my hand would go through him so I put mine as close to his skin as I could without feeling the weird tingle that always came with getting too close, "don't torture yourself like this."

He continued to stare out the window. I heard the teacher calling his name, but I had no way to nudge him to pull him out of his reverie. I noticed that the kids were gone from the room. Although I didn't hear it, the bell must have rung to dismiss the children.

"Henry…" the teacher finally placed a hand on his shoulder to gain his attention. He looked at her wide eyed; his face turned a light shade of pink with embarrassment. "It's time to go, Henry."

He nodded his head and gathered his books to exit. "Henry…" He stopped and turned to the teacher just before he reached the door. "She's going to pull through you know…your grandmother." He gave her a half hearted smile, "she's Snow White. She and your mother are the strongest women that I know. Just have a little hope."

"Thank you, Miss Vergoose. I know, but it is also really nice to hear other that other people have hope too."

"Anytime Henry. Now go home and spend some time with your family. I think that you need it." He gave the teacher a small nod as he left the school for the day.

"What was that all about?" Neal asked as he stepped up behind me.

"Aren't you supposed to be the one guiding me?" I cocked my head and looked at him over my left shoulder.

"I guess it's more of a mutual guidance."

"Of course it is." I grabbed his arm and pulled him along as we followed Henry. The boy didn't go straight home. Which didn't surprise me; he still had close to two hours before either of his mothers or his grandfather would be home for the evening. Neal and I followed him as he walked to the pier. He sat on a bench and pulled what looked like his lunch from his book bag. And that was exactly what it was, a sandwich and a bag of chips. I had to laugh, I was certain that my daughter had packed his lunch; I think that the words fruit and vegetable were exiled from her vocabulary.

He pulled the bread of the sandwich apart and tossed it to the ducks that were swimming nearby. When the bread was gone, he moved to the bag of chips. I didn't know whether to allow my heart to break at the site or yell at him for wasting the food that Emma and David worked so hard to provide. However, soon the heartbreak won out when I noticed that he never took his eyes off of the horizon. Well, that and he couldn't hear me.

"He wants to fix it all, but he doesn't know how," I finally said to Neal.

"You got that from him feeding bread and chips to the ducks?"

"No, I got that from the fact that he hasn't stopped looking at the horizon, he drew a picture of our castle in his notebook when he should have been taking notes. He wants everything to be ok, but he has it in his head that the only possibility of that is in the Enchanted Forest. He needs to snap out of this."

"The enchanted forest? How that hell is that going to help anything?"

"It isn't, but he is desperately trying to find a solution to bring me back to the family. He has the heart of the truest believer and he believes that he can make it better. And maybe, just maybe, he can."

"Henry?" Oh, I knew that voice. It belonged to a gentle girl with long brown hair; a girl with whom Henry had been very smitten. Recently they had been spending more and more time together.

"Who is that?" Neal asked.

"Violet…" Henry looked up in surprise. I guess that he wasn't expecting her to follow him. But he didn't seem displeased.

Neal's eyes went wide when he realized just who Violet was, "That's my boy."

I rolled my eyes and backhanded the man lightly in the chest. "Shush…"

As the girl approached, Henry stood to offer her a seat next to him. They smiled at each other then gently eased down on to bench. "Is that your lunch that you are feeding to the ducks?"

"Yeah…well no…not really. It was the lunch that my Mom packed for my grandfather this morning. My grandma being in the hospital is really hitting him hard."

"What does that have to do with you having your grandfather's lunch?" She reached into the bag and pulled out a chip to toss to the ducks. They both laughed when two ducks began to fight over the chip. Henry quickly threw another one to the loser.

"My Mom has been trying really hard to fill the void that is left because my grandma isn't there. She keeps doing things that my grandma would do, like pack our lunches, make sure that my uncle had someone to keep him for the day, and keep us all in the holiday spirit. She even bought cookie dough the other day to bake cookies with Neal. But my grandpa isn't making it easy. Tensions are high between them." They both tossed a couple of chips to the ducks that were around them. "So when I came downstairs this morning, I saw him take the lunch that she packed him and shove it into my backpack. I didn't say anything; I didn't want to make any more stress for my Mom. I know that she is worried about him."

"Well, shouldn't you tell your Mom that your grandfather isn't eating right?" Violet had a look of concern on her face that morphed into a look of confusion when Henry chuckled at her question.

"No, she knows. One thing about my Mom…she can tell when anyone is lying. Which, come to think it, can be a real pain in the butt for me. But I have no doubt that she knows. And I'm sure she that when she didn't see his lunch at the station, she tricked him into go to Granny's with her for lunch."

Violet nodded her head in understanding. The two sat there for a couple of more minutes laughing at the ducks as they finished feeding them the remaining chips. My heart swelled with pride for my daughter, who stepped up to take care of her father and brother. She even baked cookies with Neal. When didn't think that I could love my daughter any more, she always did something to prove me wrong. Things were going to be ok, a little rough maybe, but ok.

"Take me home, Neal. Please?" I turned to face the man but he was gone. I called for him a couple of times, but there was no response. I looked back to my grandson, and realized that Neal was there to guide me to Henry. Henry was wise beyond his years and with the discussion the young boy had with Violet and his teacher, I learned a lot. I learned that Henry had hope for his family to pull through this tough time. And hope is a very powerful thing.


	3. Chapter 3 - Family

**Hello All - Well I wanted to have this story wrapped up before Christmas but, it didn't work out that way, since I lost my internet connection during the holidays. But now that it is back up and running, I plan to finish this up in about 1 or 2 more chapters. Now that being said, this story has turned out to be a little darker than I had originally outlined, but as I put it down on paper, I couldn't help but to like how it was turning out. Don't overthink it. The chapters are designed to focus on a particular message rather than a particular person or people. So things may not be exactly what you would like them to be from canon. Just keep that in mind.**

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Chapter 3 - Family

I left Henry and Violet to enjoy their afternoon together. As I meandered around Storybrooke, eventually making my way toward my apartment, I thought about Neal and Emma. I thought about their years together and the fact that if not for Neal, I wouldn't have my beautiful daughter in my life. I have her because of him and that brought a smile to my face; a smile that quickly faded when my mind moved to Emma and her father. David was taking this so devastatingly hard and Emma was left to pick of the pieces and glue them back together.

I turned the corner to the street of my apartment building. Only being a couple of blocks away, I could see that David's truck was parked outside. He must have left Emma to finish out the shift at the station. I paused for a minute, but when I started to walk again I felt an arm hook around mine.

"Mother?" I couldn't believe my eyes. I stopped again and just stared at her in open-mouthed shock.

"Hello, my dear." She said with a smile; a smile that I hadn't seen since I was twelve years old. Oh, I missed her so much. She looked as young and as beautiful as the last time that I saw her. Her raven hair was pulled back as I remembered. It was then that I noticed the features that my Emma shared with my mother; the most prominent of all; her chin. Or rather, our chin.

"Wh…what are you doing here?" I stammered. I didn't know what else to say.

"Well, it was my turn." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You didn't think that I was going to let Neal be the only one to be able to see his family, did you?"

"You…You know Neal?" I don't know why I was shocked, maybe because I never really knew what to expect of the afterlife. If there was, in fact, an afterlife and this wasn't just a dream.

"Of course," her response was so matter of fact. Like I was insane for suggesting otherwise, "He is the first love of my granddaughter and the father of my great-grandson. He is family."

I felt the smile on my face widen at her mention of my daughter and grandson. I often dreamed that my family would have been able to know my mother; but I knew that it would never be. But hearing that she knew of my family; it was the next best thing. I felt my annoyance with the situation begin to fade away. Maybe it was because I was seeing my mother for the first time since I was a child or maybe it was because I was beginning to understand what Neal meant about satisfying the curiosity that comes with the 'what ifs.'

"I see your smile, but I can tell that you are troubled, my dear." She didn't give me time to react. With her words and a snap of her fingers we were suddenly transported to my apartment.

The loft was quiet; too quiet and dark. Toys were strewn about throughout the living room. An abandon bowl of cereal sat on the table next to a cup of coffee that was half full. My heart broke for my husband. It had been several days since he and Emma sat in Dr. Whale's office to discuss getting back to their normal lives. He was going through the motions, but he wasn't happy about it.

I scanned the apartment looking for the man that I loved. His truck was parked outside, he had to be here. "Snow…" my eyes fell to my mother when I heard her softly say my name. She had a sympathetic look on her face and I followed her gaze to a sleeping form on the couch.

"Oh, Charming…" I outwardly sighed at the sight. He was lying on his stomach with one arm hanging to the floor while the other was tucked under his head being used as a hard pillow. He had one foot resting on the arm of the furniture while the other leg was dangerously close to falling off. His clothes were a disheveled mess and he looked like he hadn't eaten in days. I wondered if days had passed since leaving Henry on the pier and arriving at the apartment, for the plain fact that he looked infinitely worse than when I last saw him walking away from Emma at Granny's.

I knelt down beside him. I tried to run my fingers through his hair, but my hand seemingly went through his body. Oh how I hated that tingly feeling. I felt a tear slip down my cheek. All I wanted to do was hold him. I wanted to tell him that everything would be ok. I wanted him to know that I had no intention of leaving our family. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to break this curse that had a hold on his heart and his life.

"Don't do this to yourself, Charming. You need to pull yourself together. I need you to see that everything is going to be alright." With each plea, I grew more frustrated with the fact that he could not hear me. But I couldn't give up, "They need you, David; Emma and Neal; they need their father."

I looked at my mother for guidance. "I don't know what to do for him." What was she here to show me?

She didn't give me a verbal answer; instead, I felt her hands on my shoulders. Before I knew it, she had turned my body into hers and held me as I cried. I cried for husband, I cried for my children, and finally I cried for me.

"How long has it been?" I finally asked my mother. I didn't have to elaborate, she understood that I was asking the question that I had been wondering about, how long had it been between Neal's visit and hers.

"Several days," was her quiet answer. It was an answer that I knew but was hoping was different. The lives of my family members were moving on without me, but from my perspective I was being forced to watch them seemingly fall apart.

When there were no more tears to be shed, I sat I watched over him as he slept on the couch. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to sleep in our bed; unless he had Neal with him; then he would sleep in the bed with the little boy tucked into his side. But more and more he was leaving the toddler with his older sister. He was pulling away from our children and I was powerless to stop it; but I knew that it was only a matter of time before my eldest wouldn't be able to take it anymore.

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"Grandpa?!" I jumped when the door flew open. With a thud, when it slammed against the table behind, it nearly hit Emma in the face when it rebounded from Henry's carelessness of not holding onto it. I didn't bother to stifle my laugh at my grandson's adolescents, they couldn't hear me anyway.

"Henry, you could at least hold the door open." Emma walked into the apartment with her little brother in her arms. His head was lying on her shoulder and his little arms hung to the sides as he slept soundly.

"Oh, sorry, Mom." She just shook her head as she carried Neal through the apartment to my bedroom. I followed her. There was just something so beautiful about my daughter looking over my son. I always had such a hard time tearing my eyes away from them.

"Snow? Is that…" my mother did not need to finish her question. I looked at her quickly and nodded with such proud enthusiasm.

"Those are my children, Emma and Neal. Your grandchildren," the corners of her mouth curled up towards her ears.

She held her hands in front of her mouth in a manner that made her look as if she were praying. With a quick swipe of her right hand across her cheek, she wiped away a single tear. "Snow, they are beautiful, the very best of both of you," she said as she looked back towards the couch at a sleeping charming.

"And the young man?" she turned back to take in the site of the inquisitive boy. "Is that…"

"Henry," I cut her off with my words but my eyes stayed fixated on my daughter. "…my handsome grandson, the boy who brought my baby home." My mother moved to my side and wrapped her arm around my waist. In her comforting embrace I laid my head on her shoulder as I watched my daughter lay my son on my bed and cover him with my quilt. My heart swelled and broke at the same time when she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his little forehead.

"Take a nice long nap, squirt…" I heard her whisper. "That way you can stay up to the wee hours of the morning for Dad, instead of me tonight." I let out a huffed laugh and rolled my eyes at that comment. I straightened up when I caught my mother's pointed look, "sarcasm and a gun…it's what makes my baby girl tick."

"A gun…?" I ignored her quiet question as I turned and walked away.

"Is grandpa even here? Why is it so dark?" We all turned at the sound of Henry's voice. It sounded so much deeper than I remembered. And he looked so much taller. It was hard to believe how quickly he was becoming a young man.

"I'm guessing…" Emma shrugged as she pulled the curtain to my bedroom closed. "He wasn't at work today, he texted me this morning saying that he wanted to get some things done around the house that he had been neglecting." She moved to the kitchen a flicked on the light that was above the island. "Dad?"

"Right here," he responded through a muffled yawn. Emma stopped cold when she saw him slump out of the corner of the living room. His hair was a mess and sticking up on one side. He was wearing a pair of pajama pants with an old t-shirt. His robe hung loosely off of his shoulders. He used his right hand to rub his eyes in an attempt to get them to adjust to the light but he still squinted as he tried to look in Emma's direction.

"What the hell…" Emma stopped herself when she came out of her shock long enough to remember that Henry was in the room with them. "Ah…Henry…"

"Yeah…"

"I called an order into Granny's can you walk down the block to pick it up?" She tossed her keys to the kid who caught them with one hand. "There is money in the glove box of the bug. There should be enough for the food and a tip."

"But I thought that we were…"

"Just go, Henry!" she snapped. It wasn't like Emma to get so short with Henry. I could tell that he wanted to argue with her, but he obeyed. He knew that his mother was about to have it out with his grandfather. I watched my grandson leave the apartment without another word. He only stopped for a second to look back at his grandfather and then his mother giving them both a sympathetic nod.

"Emma…" Charming started but was abruptly stopped by the very angry gesture of his daughter holding up her index finger in his direction, while she dialed her phone with the other hand.

"Ruby…it's Emma. Henry is on his way to pick up an order, can you have our usual ready for him and a couple of chicken strips for Neal?" After a small pause, she said thanks and hit the end button on the phone before slamming it down on the counter. She turned her attention to her father, who just stood there.

She looked him up and down for a minute then disappeared into my bedroom again. I thought that she was checking on Neal, but she returned with a pair of jeans, a flannel shirt, clean underwear and socks.

"You need to snap the hell out of this!" She yelled as she threw the clothes at her father.

He caught the clothes and held them loosely over his arm, "Emma…"

"No, don't Emma me! In case you haven't noticed, you have a son in there," she pointed to my bedroom as she yelled "who needs his father. You have a grandson, who just walked out that door" she then pointed to the green door that gave entrance to the loft, "who is missing his grandfather. And a daughter right here," she turned her finger to her own chest "who is going through the same thing as you. The only difference between me and you is that I am fighting like hell to keep it all together and you're having a pity party for yourself."

"Em…" Charming tried to interrupt her rant, but she just continued.

"No! I'm having a hard enough time trying to explain to Neal why Mom isn't home, but now I'm fielding questions on 'where is Daddy?' How can I answer his questions when I have the same exact question? Where the hell is Daddy?"

Normally he would have jumped for joy at hearing Emma call him Daddy, sarcastic or otherwise; but not this time. "Don't I get any time to grieve my wife? My true love?" he finally yelled overtop of her to get her attention, but his choice of words could have been better.

"Grieve? Are you serious right now?" Emma's voice got louder and angrier, "You're acting like Mom is dead! She's not! She is in the hospital doing what she needs to do to heal after her accident. I am NOT giving up on my mother." Her face was red with anger and her fists were clenched tight with only one figured poking out and shaking with enraged irritation at her father , "I refuse to give up on Mom and damn it…I want my father back too!"

I stood there and watched as my daughter unloaded on her father. I expected a reaction from him, but he didn't give it. He only looked at the floor while he played with the hem of the shirt that Emma had thrown at him. What was happening to my Charming? Apparently it wasn't the reaction that Emma was expecting either. It was a long minute before she finally took her eyes off of him. Her face fell in defeat as she pulled her red leather jacket from the bar stood and slipped it over her shoulders, "I'm going to meet up with Henry," she said in a less harsh but still cold tone as she made her way to the door.

I wanted to hit something. Slam something. I wanted to do anything to relieve this anger that was building up inside me. I didn't know how to help my family; for all intents and purposes I was nothing but a spirit. I was being forced to watch my husband self destruct and my daughter try to pick up the pieces. None of this was fair to them or me. I settled for yelling at my husband with a small hope that he would somehow here me, "Charming" I said in a warning tone, "don't you dare let her walk out of that door!"

I felt my mother's hands on my shoulders giving me the support that I needed to watch my daughter walk away from my husband. "TALK TO HER," I yelled as Emma got dangerously close to the door. If he let her leave their relationship would begin to break. "CALL HER BACK, DAVID! EMMA…DON'T WALK AWAY FROM YOUR FATHER!"

Why wouldn't either of them listen to me, why couldn't they hear me? "Snow…" I heard my mother say.

"No, mother, no…he can't let her leave." I shrugged my shoulders away from my mother's grip and tried to grab a hold of Emma's wrist. I had to try to stop her from leaving, but my hands just when through her arm. I ran around her desperately trying to throw my body against the door to push it closed but in my current state, I had no leverage. I felt relief wash over my body when I noticed that she stopped. But then I saw why she stopped.

"Daddy…Memma?" The voice of her little brother stopped her dead in her tracks. She looked at him briefly but quickly looked back to the door. Her hand was still on the knob. My heart broke at the site of the tears that were pushing to fall; the tears that she was trying so hard to hold back.

"Neal…" her voice cracked as she said his name. She paused to give herself a minute to pull it back together before she spoke again, "I'm sorry, buddy, did we wake you?"

"Why were you yelling at Daddy?" His voice was so sweet and innocent. She finally let go of the door and went to scoop him up in her arms.

She swallowed hard, "Dad and I were just having a little disagreement." She explained as she held him tight. She used her hand to push his head to rest on her shoulder. She glared at David over the little boy's own shoulder. "Hey Neal, what do you say to going to Granny's for dinner? Henry is already there." She set the boy down long enough to reach for his coat and pull it over his arms. In a sweeping motion, she perched the boy back on her hip and headed for the door, leaving their father alone in the living room. She looked back at the man one last time before she exited the loft.

"Emma…" My eyes flew right to David when I heard him whisper her name. I willed him to say it louder. "Emma," he said again this time loud enough to stop her before she reached the stairs. He dropped the clothes and ran to the door to see that she had stopped at the top of the landing with her little brother still in her arms. Both of his children looked at him as he approached.

As he drew closer to the siblings, he lifted his arms to reach for Neal. The little boy instinctively reached back for his father. David pulled the toddler from his sister's arms and hugged him tight. When David shifted Neal to one arm, I saw the tears streaming down his face. He used his free arm to pull his daughter close to him.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered to them. He held his children just as tight as they held him as he cried. "I'm so so sorry. I love you two so much. I can't lose you."

"You won't lose us, Dad." Emma's voice was finally calm. She kept her eyes closed as she held onto her father. She had the tails of his shirt wrapped in her hand. "As long as you don't push us away, you'll never lose us."

Those were the only words that needed to be said in that moment. Charming pulled his head back enough to put a kiss on the head's of each of his kids, first Neal and then Emma. I stepped aside to allow him to pull them back into the apartment. I smiled with pride at my family; my husband and my two beautiful children. I looked back to share my joy with my mother, but she wasn't there. My smile fell a little, but I quickly realized that she was there to give me the support that I needed _._ I knew in my heart that I didn't want to leave my family. They were my life and as much as I missed my mother and wanted my mother back in my life, I wasn't ready to leave my husband and my children. Although my family was different than what could be considered normal, we still had our up and downs as all families do and through all of the trials and tribulations, my family, like all families, could work through anything. Now, all that I had to do was figure out how to get back to them.


	4. Chapter 4 - Love

**Hi all - Here's Chapter 4. Hope you like it.**

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Chapter 4 – Love

I watched my family for what felt like hours. For the first time since my spirit woke in the hospital I saw my husband interact with his children. Henry had returned with the food from Granny's, Emma made them all hot chocolate, and Charming sat on the floor to play matchbox cars with Neal. Every couple of minutes Emma would look over her shoulder and smile at her father and little brother.

The family talked about a lot that night. I felt a huge weight being lifted from my shoulders when Emma's tough love was finally able to pull her father from the depression that he had fallen into after my accident. I watched as they played some board games together. It was funny to see Emma pout when Neal would win. I knew that she was doing it for his benefit and he got a charge out of it every time.

"That's it, I quit." She announced when he pulled ahead of her again during a rousing game of Chutes and Ladders. I could tell that she had picked up on the same thing as I when Neal tried so hard to stifle a yawn. He was tired but he wouldn't quit playing the game willingly. If she stopped playing it would be the catalyst that was needed to move him in the direction of going to bed.

"Mom? You can't quit just because Neal is winning…" Henry began to play along. Oh, he was a smart young man. I couldn't be more proud to call him my grandson.

"Nope. He's beat me what? Five times?" She sat back with a very fake huff and crossed her arms in front of her chest. They all laughed when Neal giggled at his sister's antics. Charming was sitting there with a huge grin on his face loving every minute of it, "he's too good for me," Emma finished.

"Memma, you just have to let Mommy teach you how to count again. You was doing it wrong and falling down the chutes." His little hands reached to the spinner and with his index finger he quickly counted the numbers from 1 to 6 as he pointed to each number.

"Is that how you are supposed to count?" He bit the side of his lip at her question and quickly nodded his blond head. "Why didn't you tell me sooner Neal?"

He abruptly stopped when he heard her next question. His eyes widened as he looked at her. After a long beat he whispered, "Daddy was 'upposed to tell you." He moved his eyes to their father at the same time he pulled Emma's shirt to get her to lean to his level to whisper the next part in her ear.

Emma tried her best to not smirk at whatever Neal had said in her ear. "Oh, I didn't notice," she said through her smile. "Do you want me to tell him?"

Whatever it was, Neal wanted Emma to be the one to break the news to their father. He quickly crawled from his chair and onto her lap, "he won't yell at you," he said as he grabbed her arms and wrapped them around his waist.

"Don't be so sure of that, Kid," Charming wagged a finger in their direction. "I'm her Daddy too; I reserve the right to yell at both of you." I had to laugh when Neal's eyes became huge like saucers and he wiggled his small body closer to Emma's chest. I wasn't sure if he was trying to protect her or melt into her to hide himself. "Come on, I can take," he said in a much gentler tone.

"You can't count either." Emma blurted out with a laugh.

"What?" Charming put his hand on his chest in mock hurt. He shifted his eyes from Emma to Neal then back to Emma when she continued to speak.

"Actually, you're worse than I am. At least I count in the right order; I just don't go high enough. You, on the other hand, were all over the place…skipping numbers…"

"Hmph…" he huffed. He sat back in a pout and crossed his arms in front of his chest just as his daughter had done no so long ago. Sometimes I wondered how they didn't see how much alike they really were.

"It's ok, Daddy. Mommy's a teacher. She'll make sure that you and Memma know how to count again." Oh, my little boy, I don't think that he could get much sweeter.

David shot the little boy a smirk, doing his best to hold in a laugh and act like Neal had offended him with his observation. "Come here, you." Charming shouted catching the boy off guard. In one swift motion, David had jumped up and swiped Neal from Emma's lap and swung Neal high above his head. When he pulled the toddler back to his chest, he gave him a little tickle on the belly before setting him done to stand on the floor. "Tell your sister good night, the runoff get in PJ's and brush your teeth."

"Tubby first?" Neal called out as his little feet carried him to the bathroom first.

"Oh, I forgot about tubby time." Charming followed Neal to the bathroom.

Emma rose from the table and gathered the mugs that were lying around from their hot chocolate. She carried them into the kitchen calling to Henry on her way, "Hey Kid, get your stuff together. Regina should be here any minute."

At first he didn't respond to his mother, he just stuffed his comic books into his book bag and retreated up the stairs to gather his clothes. I thought about how much a good kid he turned out to be; he never argued and had a heart of gold. Although when he turned, I could see that he was eyeing up his mother to ask her something. "Hey Mom," he laid his bag of clothes on the bar stool next to the one that he sat on. Emma was on the other side of the island; washing the dishes from the nights festivities.

"mmhmm…" she didn't even look up.

Henry quickly looked around the apartment before he spoke. "Is Grandma going to be ok?" A lump instantly formed in my throat. Emma was looking at him now; the mug that she was washing was discarded into the water. Henry was so worried about me, but given the state that his grandpa was in when they arrived, he was afraid to ask while he was in earshot. I looked to Emma. I was trying to read her face. I wasn't looking for the answer that she was going to give Henry, I was looking for the answer that, in her heart, she believed to be true. I didn't miss that she also looked around to get a location on her father before she spoke.

"Honestly, Henry, I don't know." I held my breath, I wanted to hear what she really thought but at the same time was I terrified to know what was swirling around in her head. Whatever it was, I knew that it would be honest. Emma vowed that she would never lie to Henry again after she had lied to him about his father. "I'm trying really hard to have hope, you know?" the teen nodded. "It's been so hard taking care of Neal while I watched your grandpa spiral out of control. There wasn't really time for the reality of the situation to fully sink in, until now. I'll be honest; I'm scared; it's been almost a month. But I'm not going to give up on her. And neither should you."

"I won't, Mom." I wanted to reach out and hug them both. Emma needed a hug from her mother; she needed me to tell her it would all be ok. No, I shook my head at my own thought. She needed Charming to tell her everything would be okay and she needed to tell Henry. That was way it worked with a parent and child, regardless of their age.

Emma gave him a knowing smile but left the rest of that conversation for another time. Or was it the knock on the door that pulled her thoughts in a different direction. "Come in, Regina" she called out, but then turned her attention to Henry, "Go get your stuff." The boy obliged and ran from the room.

"The snow out there is ridiculous." Regina complained as she entered the apartment. She shook her hands then ran her gloved fingers through her hair to shake off the snow.

"Really, I didn't know they were calling for anything tonight…Hot chocolate?" Emma offered to the other woman as she approached the island.

"Yeah well, I guess they were wrong, looks like we're going to have a white Christmas." Emma lifted a mug in Regina's direction to prompt an answer on the hot drink. "No thanks, I just had some coffee. Where's Henry?"

As if right on queue the boy yelled down from the loft, "Mom have you seen my book?"

Emma pointed to room above them and rolled her eyes, "I'll be back, it will be easier if I just go up there."

Like mother like son I thought as she made her way up the stairs. Emma was constantly searching for things when she lived with us. "I wish that I had a quarter for every time that I heard the words 'Mom, have you seen…' come out of her mouth on any given day."

"What?" I froze when Regina looked up from the phone that she was checking when Emma retreated and looked directly at me. "Snow…" she looked around the room for any other human being. "When did you get home from the hospital?" She put her brow together in confusion, "when did you wake up and why didn't anyone tell me?"

"You can see me?" The words came out of my mouth in slow motion. How was this happening? Did Regina truly see me standing there? I put my hand up and waved it in front of her eyes.

"Put your hand down. Yes I can see you, your standing right in front of me. Why didn't your idiot husband tell you that you came out of the coma? And came home for that matter," she used her hand to gesture around the apartment in an effort to help prove her point.

I shrugged my shoulders, I didn't have an explained other than, "Because I didn't."

"So now I'm seeing ghosts? Great…" she used the tips of her fingers to rub her eyes. She inhaled and exhaled sharply before she pulled her hands away from her face and looked to me again.

"No, not a ghost. I'm not dead. My spirit just sort of separated from my body. I've been following Charming and Emma around for weeks. Why can you see me and they can't?" I had no idea how to handle this change of events. Regina could see me and talk to me, but no one else, unless they were an actual dead person.

"I have absolutely no idea what is going on right now, but you would do yourself a bit of good to get back to your body and wake up." Regina held her hands out from her body. I wasn't sure if she was trying to stabilize herself to stop the world from spinning.

"Don't you think I would if I could? Watching Charming fall into a depression and then Emma blowing up on him, they need me here. I don't understand why I have had to watch them all these weeks. It has been killing me."

"It sounds to me like you chose to follow them and watch them. And, I figured it damn near killed David too; Emma was getting pretty frustrated with him." I noticed that she looked to the loft when she spoke Emma's name. Was she afraid of Emma's reaction of her talking about the circumstances of the past couple of weeks? Emma's voice was louder, she must have moved closer to the railing but I was unable to see her.

"She went off on him earlier." I explained to my step mother, "And as much as I hate to admit it, her subtle as a chainsaw approached snapped him out of it."

"Don't leave them, Snow. They love you. They need you in their life. Maybe this was all more of enlightenment."

"What do you mean by that?" Now I was curious, what in the world is this meant to enlighten.

"Maybe this isn't about you, but rather, them." I cocked my head to the side in a manner that begged her to continue. "Maybe they needed to be reminded that with family comes unconditional love and hope. Those three things are very powerful and when you are on the verge of losing one you risk losing the others."

It was like a brick smacked me in the head right between the eyes. How did I not see any of that? Charming's fear of losing me was leading to him losing hope causing him to push Emma and Neal away. He wasn't doing it to be mean or because he didn't love them, he just didn't know how to handle me not being in his life, possibly forever. He didn't want his feelings of misery to bleed over to his children, so he sunk into a shell of himself. This was one of those times when I thanked the god's for my daughter's stubbornness.

"So why can you see me and they can't? And why did I separate from my body to follow them?" Those were still burning questions that I needed to have answered.

"I guess because I've been there. I lost love, and then lost all hope, and finally I lost my family. I let my loss consume me. I let it turn me into a maniacal monster. Not only did I have no love for any person other than myself and Henry, but didn't even know how to show my love to Henry until Emma showed up. That doesn't mean that I didn't love him, but I had a lot of learning to do. I pushed that boy straight to her."

"Ok. But why me? Why did I have to witness all of this?"

"Well, I think that your subconscious was having you take a step back and look at it from an outsider's point of view." Confusion plagued my features, "Sometimes we are too close to something and we don't see what we really have until we don't have it anymore. Sure, your intention is to never leave your family, but maybe, just maybe taking a step back was giving you a greater appreciation of what you have now and what you have accomplished. Look at Emma, after all these years, she came back to you and accepted you into her life. She loves you and wants to be with you."

"Are you suggesting that I was taking Emma for granted?"

"No. I'm not saying that at all. Emma is an incredibly strong, independent, and loving person. You should be very proud."

"I am…but I can't take any credit for the person that she became."

"Why not?"

"I gave her up. I left her to fend for herself in this world. And yes, I did it to give Emma her best chance, but I didn't raise her."

"Snow…Emma became the woman that she is because you and charming did what was best for her. It may have been the hardest thing that you have had to do and it was certainly no picnic for her, but oh…I don't even want to think about the spoiled brat she would be if you two had raised her."

"She would have been spoiled, wouldn't she?"

"There's no doubt, you two spoil her now as it is and she's a thirty year old woman."

"We do not…" I crossed my arms in offence to her statement.

"Oh really, ask your husband about his morning stops on the way to the station." I raised an eyebrow at her and made a mental note to ask him that specific question. "My point is, she deserves it. And so do you. Come back and enjoy your family, Snow."

"You're a part of that family, you know. "

"Thank you." Regina said with a genuine smile; a smile that I'm not sure that I had ever seen as a kid.

"You're welcome…" I responded as I gave her a Cheshire cat grin.

"What? What's that look?"

"I think Emma should start calling you grandma…" My grin turned to a huge smile. I didn't have much to lightheartedly tease Regina about, but I did have that.

"Now you're pushing it." She warned. She dipped her head down and raise her brows, giving me her signature 'don't mess with me' look.

"What? Technically, it's true." I sang.

"Step-Grandmother…and no."

"We found it!" Henry announced as he barreled down the staircase. He had his book in one hand and was flinging his backpack over his shoulder with the other hand. He nearly hit Emma in the face with the straps as she followed him too closely.

"Yeah, it took forever, it was lodge underneath his bed behind a pile of clothes and shoes that he needs to put away." She put a strong emphasis on the 'needs to put away part.'

"I'm sure there's a pile under Emma's bed as well." I mumbled. "Oh well, I'll get it all when I get home from the hospital…" I said full of hope that I would be getting home from the hospital again.

"There's that spoiling thing again," Regina whispered to me over her shoulder. I had to laugh at the look on Emma's face.

"What?" Emma asked as she looked around to see if there was someone else to whom Regina was possibly talking.

"Huh? Oh nothing."

"Who were you talking to while we were upstairs?"

"Oh, no one. I was uh…reading an email and speaking my thoughts aloud as I responded. Ready to go Henry? What did you need the book for anyway? You haven't read it in weeks."

"Oh, I promised Roland that I would bring it to read him some of the stories." Regina gave him a proud approving nod as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders to lead him to the door. "Bye Mom," he turned to call over his right shoulder to Emma.

"Bye, kid. Love you" she responded as she went to resume her activity of washing the dishes; a task that she never completed.

"Love you, too." The teen called out.

"I love you too…" another little boy yelled as he darted out of the bathroom in his one piece footy pajamas. I had to shake my head and laugh at his animated demeanor. I may have been biased but my kids were adorable…at any age.

"I love you tooooooo…" Emma sang out to her little brother. She dried her hands while he ran straight for her legs. She put the towel down just in enough time to put her hands down to his level and lift him over her head in one sweeping lift. A motion that made him giggle to no end. "Are you all ready for bed?" she asked as she perched him on her hip.

"Oh, I hope so…" Both Emma and I tried to stifle a laugh at the soaked Charming as he emerged from the bathroom.

"What happened to you?" She couldn't hold the laugh in any longer. I could tell by the look on her face that the laugh was not so much about the fact that Charming was all wet, but more about the fact that she was glad that it was him this time and not her. "I took a bath, isn't it obvious? And I think I got Neal clean too?"

"Did you do that to daddy?" Neal, who had laid his head on Emma's shoulder, shyly nodded and giggled into the side of Emma's neck. "High five, kid!" Emma praised holding up her free palm to the little boy. He quickly lifted his head from her shoulder, slapped her hand with his, and laid his head back in its comfortable position.

"Hey, you two, I'm your father. You're supposed to love me, not gang up on me…" The way he stood there with an offended look on his face was priceless. He looked as adorable as they did.

"I believe in the sibling handbook there is a chapter on ganging up on your parents. But the rule is one parent at a time. Never gang up on both parents at once, unless the kids outnumber the parents. Right, Neal?"

"Yep…" he answered with a little bounce.

"See?" she gave him her best innocent smile. David, briefly crossed his arms in a pout. It warmed my heart to see him finally interacting with them and being their father.

"Fine," he said as he reached for Neal, "Come here you, time for bed." The toddler let go of his sister's neck and reached for his father. He quickly resumed the same hold on the man. "I'll be right back."

Emma nodded while she washed the last plate and laid it in the strainer then wiped the counter dry. She stopped only long enough to her father say a cute goodnight to her a little brother. Although we really couldn't hear what he was saying it still brought a warm smile to her face. I watched as she finished and moved toward her winter coat that she unceremoniously threw on the arm of the couch.

She slipped it over her arms then reached back to lift her blond curls out from the binds of the wool. She only turned when she heard her father, "Where you going?" he asked as he came down the staircase.

"Home, you good here?"

"No…" he answered too quickly. The concern mounted quickly on her face. "I mean, yeah, I'm good, but please don't go."

"Dad…" she started but he put up his hand to cut her off.

"I would really like it if you stayed the night, please? It's been a tough couple of weeks, to say the least, and I really want my kids here with me."

"Ok…" I was shocked, I could have swore that by the look on her face she was going to argue, but she didn't instead she pulled her phone from her pocket. "Let me call Killian and let him know that I'm staying here tonight."

David nodded, but then I was even more shocked by what came from his mouth next. "Why don't you tell him to come over too."

And apparently so was Emma, "Umm…really? You really want him to come here for the night?" It was funny how she pointed from the door to the middle of room.

"Yeah, that way I know you are all safe?"

She knitted her brow and cocked her head to the side, her face was full of skepticism, "Where's my father? What did you do with him?"

"Enough Emma," he pulled the phone from her hand and brought up the contact hitting the send button, "I know what goes on in your home," he lifted the phone to his ear, "I just choose to believe that it doesn't happen. And I know that it won't happen here, right? Killian…"

She laughed and shook her head. As her father talked to her boyfriend on the phone, she slowly peeled away her wool coat and, again, hung it unceremoniously on the arm of the couch. I did a little gleeful clap when, while still on the phone, he pointed from Emma to the coat to the hook by the door. Emma rolled her eyes but lifted the coat and hung it on the hook. "I thought you were Dad, not Mom," she grumbled.

He ended the call and shook the phone in her direction, "It is my mission to make this place look perfect for when your mother get's home." Emma smiled at him, he finally had his hope back, "which is why we are going out tomorrow to get a Christmas tree. Ok?"

She nodded. She had the smile of a child plastered on her face. "Ok."

"Thank you," he smiled back at her, "I don't think I could have handled any of this without you. You've been my rock, kiddo." He pulled her into a tight hug and kissed the side of her head.

"Dad?" she said as she held him just as tight.

"mmhmm…"

"You know that unconditional love thing?" She waited for him to nod before she continued. "It goes both ways."

He pulled back from her but held her face in his hands, "I love you, kid."

"I love you too, Dad."

He pulled her forehead to his lips for another gentle kiss then release his hold on her to turn to the staircase, "Now you wait for Killian, I'm going upstairs to snuggle in with your brother, you two sleep in my bed."

"You're bed?"

"Yeah, it's easier than moving Neal. Plus I know that if you two are in my bed, you won't be making any tacos," he said over his shoulder with sly smirk.

A look of horror crossed her face, "Ew, Dad…"

"Exactly…" he ran up the stairs leaving his daughter alone to ponder his words. She stood there with a look of disgust on her face. I would say that he was effective in his plan. I, too, left her to stand in living room as I followed my husband up the stairs for the night.


	5. Chapter 5 - All I ever Wanted

**We've come to the end of this story. Thank you to all of my loyal readers. I hope that you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for all of the follows, favorites, and reviews. It really means a lot to me. And we'll see what comes out of my brain next. Until next time...**

* * *

Chapter 5 - All I ever Wanted

The apartment was dark. After I followed Charming up the stairs, I stood leaning against the doorjamb to watch him as he snuggled into Emma's old bed next to the small boy. Although he was sound asleep, when Neal felt the bed shift under the weight of his father, he rolled a little closer to the man cuddling the crook of his arm. He looked so peaceful, they both did. This was actually the most peaceful that I had seen David look in weeks. I watched as he began to run his fingers through the blond hair that was layered upon Neal's head; blond hair and green eyes, just like his sister and the very best of both of us.

David watched the boy sleep for a couple of minutes, before he finally reached over to turn off the lamp that was on the nightstand. "Sleep tight, kiddo, we have a big day tomorrow," I heard him whisper.

I took that as my cue to check on our other child. Killian had finally made it to the loft in the snow storm that was currently pounding the small town. I had heard him come in, but I stayed upstairs with my husband and son to give the couple below the privacy that they needed, but I promised myself to check on them one last time once I heard their whispers die down, which they had.

The entire apartment was dark, save for the nightlight that was plugged into the outlet in the island. I stared at it for a half of second, wondering when it had arrived. I shook off the thought thinking that it must have been something that Emma plugged into the outlet just in case someone was up late for some reason. As I reached the bottom of the metal staircase I looked over my shoulder to see that the curtain separating my room from the rest of the loft hadn't been drawn; definitely an open invitation to check on my daughter and her pirate.

And there they were, sound asleep. I wanted to just stand there and watch her sleep. She looked every bit as peaceful as the two sleeping above. I always tried so hard not to stare at her while she slept, especially when the curse was first broken. It was an action that she would always call creepy. Until one day, she was standing at the island helping me make dinner; it was a day that Henry was coming down with a cold. He came home from school and fell asleep as soon as he hit the couch. As she was chopping up a salad, I noticed that her eyes kept drifting to the boy's sleeping form, until the moment that they stopped drifting and stayed focused on him instead of the salad. I knew what she was feeling, it was the same thing that I felt with her so many times. I reached up and rubbed my hand lovingly up and down her shoulder, letting her know that I knew and that it was ok. "It's what parents do," I told her. She never called it creepy again. So here I stood, watching her sleep. She was curled up in the crook of Killian's arm just as her brother was curled up in their father's arm in the room upstairs.

The sight of a duffle bag discarded at the foot of the bed caught my attention. I didn't go through it to inspect the contents, I didn't need to; it was obvious that it was a bag that Killian had packed for them. I was certain that it was an extra set of clothes and some sleep wear. I only say that it contained sleepwear because Emma wasn't wearing anything that belonged to her. And my heart warmed at my revelation, she was wearing one of her father's pocketed t-shirts, which was way too big for her, and a set of his pajama pants were evident on the leg that was poking out from under the covers. If I was a betting woman I would have wagered that Charming was never going to get those items of clothing back. They now ranked up there with her baby blanket; subconsciously they were a device to remind her that she is always safe with her Dad.

When I stepped a little closer to the bed I noticed that her long curly hair was caught beneath Killian's arm. Instinctively I reached down to gently pull it free. The thought that I couldn't touch anyone didn't cross my mind until the hair came free from its bounds.

"Well that's different…" I said in a loud whisper. "How can that be?" When I reached out again to run my fingers through her hair, I felt the strands wrap around my digits. I didn't get the tingly feeling I had before and my hand didn't seem to go through her like a ghost. I reveled in being able to run my fingers through her golden locks and now I wanted to do the same to my son, but I had one last test. I leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her head then whispered in her ear. "I love you, Emma."

I froze when I heard her mumbled response, "I love you too, Mom." I looked to her eyes, they were still closed. But in her subconscious state, she could hear me. And she returned my sentiment.

I was anxious to run upstairs to do the same to my husband and son and I was excited to find the similar results. Charming repeated my sentiment and Neal smiled at my words, suddenly I couldn't ask for more. It was then that I decided to lie down on the other side of the bed, sandwiching Neal between myself and my husband. It all felt so right. I tousled the little boys blond hair as I watched him and his father sleep. It was so peaceful and relaxing that I didn't notice that my eyes, too, went shut.

* * *

"She's crashing..." I heard bustling all around me.

"Get a crash cart, NOW."

There was a sound of steady beep. "Come on, come on….Finally…"

A loud bang rang through my ears.

"Don't you dare die on me."

"Charging…."

I was cold.

"Dammit, come on…."

Oh so cold.

"Clear…"

My body jolted into the air.

"Again…charging…"

What was that sound?

"Clear…"

The steady beep turned to a timely ping.

"Oh thank god."

The bustling that was happening around me seemed to stop. I tried to open my eyes, but it was as if they were glued shut.

"She's stabilizing….Call the family. Have them come in, I need to update them."

"Yes, doctor."

That was a voice of a woman, I was in the hospital. How did I get to the hospital? They were going to call Charming. What happened to me?

Again I tried to force my eyes to open, but they did not want to cooperate. I began to feel the rest of my body. It was like it was there, but it was dead weight. Each limb felt like it weighed five hundred pounds and I was destined to never move again. I tried to move my legs and arms but I couldn't. I tried to wiggle my toes…nothing. I tried to lift my hand…it was stuck. I tried to wiggle my finger…it moved.

It moved. My index finger moved. I wiggled it some more. It was slow and it was hard but it was moving nonetheless.

"Doctor?" I heard the woman yell. Who was this woman, it wasn't my Emma. "Doctor, I need you in here, now!"

"What is it, Nurse?"

"She moved her finger."

"She did?"

"Yes. Check the monitor."

"Well, I'll be damned. Get the family in here ASAP; it looks like the princess is waking up."

* * *

After what felt like a million times of trying to open my eyes and failing, I let out a soft groan. I still felt like a lead weight lying in the bed, but now my hand felt different too; it felt full, like someone was loosely holding on to it.

"Snow?" No, was that really him? Was it Charming who was holding my hand. I gave one more fleeting effort to open my eyes. This time, it worked. They cracked open. I could see the blurry figure sitting by my bedside.

"Charming?" I squeaked out. He lifted my hand to his lips, kissing the top multiple times.

"Yes…yes…It's me…" His image was becoming less blurry as I was able to open my eyes a little wider with each passing minute. I could see that he stood and was beginning to lean my direction. I tried to smile when I felt him place a kiss on my forward. "Welcome back."

"Ki…kids…" it stumbled from my mouth but he understood the question that I was trying to ask.

"They're here. They are in the waiting room. Whale called us in hours ago and Neal was getting antsy so Emma took him to get something to eat and a change of scenery."

"I…I…wa…"

"Ssh…." He interrupted. "Ssh…Don't push yourself. Ok? I'll get them. I'll be right back." He slowly back out of the room, I could tell that he didn't want to take his eyes off of me for fear that I might not be awake when he returned. And just as much as he didn't want to go, I didn't want him to leave, but I also wanted my children with me.

My eyes went closed again when he left, but my rest was short lived. As soon as I heard the door open I pried them open to see my two beautiful babies enter behind their father.

"Momma…" Neal called out. He was holding tight to his sister's neck but release her when he reached out toward me. Emma couldn't move fast enough for the little guy; she was only half way across the room when he leaned over, still in her arms, trying to give me a hug and kiss.

"Easy, Squirt. Mom's still not feeling well…just give her a kiss." I was impressed at how well he obeyed his older sister and did just what she asked by giving me a light kiss on the cheek.

"Miss you, Momma…" he said as he moved to latch his arms around Emma's neck once again.

Aw, my little boy told me that he missed me. After a little bit of effort, I was finally able to croak out an "I missed you, too."

"Hey, Mom," she held her brother tight as she also leaned down to give me a gentle kiss.

"Here, give me him," David reached to take Neal from Emma's arms. That was when I tried to motion that I wanted to hold him. I slowly made a whole between my arm and my body and was able to point to it to indicate to charming to put him down.

"Mom, you're still not…" I shook my head to cut her off. When she stopped talking I pointed back to the little place on the bed between by arm and body that was the perfect size for Neal. I didn't miss the concerned look that Emma and David exchanged. It only made me point again.

Charming finally relented to my demand and set the boy down on the bed next to me instructing him to be very careful; once he was set, I looked from my daughter to the chair next to the bed.

"Looks like Momma wants her kiddos near," David said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I gathered that," Emma said as she pulled the chair closer to the bed to sit down next to me. I reached my hand out to her and she took it without a fight.

"Well, while you two are with your mother, I'm going to find Whale to let him know that she has awoken."

"K…Daddy…" Neal answered before anyone else.

* * *

"How are you feeling? She's still asleep?" Charming lifted one of his bag filled hands to indicate Emma who was sound asleep on the chair that was in my room. She had fallen asleep right before he left to make a food run to Granny's and hadn't moved since.

"Coming down from a stressful few weeks makes a person pretty exhausted."

"Yeah, I'm afraid that I didn't make it any easier on her either." I knew that he was talking about his depression that he fell into while I was in the coma. But I decided that it was probably best for him to talk about it. Maybe that would alleviate some of the guilt that I knew he was feeling. So I pressed him.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

He let go of a heavy sigh as he looked around the room; his eyes finally settling on Emma. He pulled a chair closer to the bed and set the bags on my tray before he finally started to speak. "I was awful to her, Snow." He nervously ran his fingers through his blond hair.

"I don't believe that…."

"No, no…I was. Somehow I managed to reverse the roles. I depended on her to be the parent instead of the child. When I should have been comforting her and telling her that everything would be okay I wasn't. I pitied myself and pushed Neal off on her. She needed me to be her father but instead I pulled away from both of them. I made both of them face this alone. I'm a horrible father." He let a single tear escape his eye but looked away from me again.

"I seriously doubt that she thinks that of you." I reached out to wipe away the tear from his cheek and took his hand into mine. "You are being way too hard on yourself."

"She yelled at me." I laughed at the way that he said it. It sounded like a little kid who was looking for sympathy.

"Her tough love worked." I winced when I saw the questioning look on his face. I still hadn't told them about my out of body experience while I was in the coma; which reminded me that I still needed to speak to Regina. But thankfully he let the comment go.

"Yeah…" He finally smiled as he looked over to our sleeping daughter, "she has a way of doing that."

"Hi guys," Oh it was such a welcome sight to see Henry enter my room with little Neal holding his hand while he walked beside him. "How are you feeling, grandma?"

"Even better now that all of my favorite guys are here, come here" I reached out to pull Henry into a hug; one that I could tell he was aching for just as much as I was.

"That's good," he said as he pulled away and lifted Neal to cuddle next to my side on the bed. "I was worried, but I'm glad you're awake and will be home soon."

"Me too, honey. Me too."

"Mom said that she would be here in about an hour to see you and she said to tell you that she can take Neal for the night so that Gramps and Mom can stay here."

"Oh, that's so nice of her, she has come a long way," is what I said, but what I thought was 'so this must be what it is like to have a parent in your adult life.' And the more I thought about it, the more I was enjoying having her around not only as my stepmother but as my friend too.

"Hey Henry, why don't you wake sleeping beauty, over there?" Charming motioned toward Emma with his head as the pulled out the food from Granny's. "Her grilled cheese is getting cold."

"Sure thing…" I could see the mischievous smile that Henry attempted to hide.

"Oh mom," he said in a barely audible voice. "Moooom…" he sang out again only slightly louder. "Mom," was said one more time not even a decibel louder.

"Brace yourself…" I said to Charming "Here it comes." David laughed. He also knew what to expect in the next seconds.

"MOM!" Henry yelled as loud as he could. The teen held is stomach in fits of laughter as his unsuspecting mother jumped so high from the chair that she landed on the floor.

"Uh…What?" She looked at Henry, who was laughing so hard that he could barely breathe. "HENRY, WHAT THE HELL?" She jumped up from the floor and began to smack the boy on the shoulders, like you would see a sister do to her annoying brother. He pulled his upper limbs in tight and guarded his face with his forearms as he continued to laugh hysterically at his mother.

"Gramps said to wake you up," he tried to defend between laughs and smacks.

"Yeah, he said wake me up! Not scare the ever loving shit out of me." She took a minute to readjust the bottom of her shirt down over the top of her jeans; but then suddenly turned an accusing finger to her father. "And you! Mister 'I knew what he was doing and didn't stop him' you better have brought me a grilled cheese and onion rings. I'm starving!" She didn't wait for him to answer. She opened each box until she found the food that she was looking for and snatched it from the table to retreat with it back to the chair.

"Geez, not even a 'thank you'?" David said with mock hurt in his voice.

"I'm your kid," she sharply retorted. "It's your job to take care of me and you have 28 years to make up for."

"Well, you got me there," I knew he would give in to her, she's was Daddy's girl, he always gave into her. "You're hot chocolate, princess." She reached up and snatched the cup from his hand. She took a sip of the hot liquid before putting the cup down on the table next to her.

"Thank you," she finally said to him.

And then I saw the grin. It was the grin that he gave her when he was about to do something that she didn't expect. "I have a bear claw for you, too, for later."

"Really?" And with one mention of her favorite pastry her anger from being rudely awaken had dissipated.

"There you go with the spoiling again…" We all looked toward Regina as she entered the room, but it was only I who knew what she was talking about; which also confirmed my suspicions that Regina remembered our encounter at the loft too.

"What?" Charming and Emma asked simultaneously.

"Mom, you're early?" was Henry's response to her entrance. But it was enough to move the conversation away from Regina's entering comment.

"I finished up early at the office, so I came straight here." She said as she moved further into the room while she removed her coat and gloves.

"Good," David said as he reached for a box of food to hand to the woman, "I brought you a Kale salad. Henry said that you offered to take Neal tonight?"

"Oh yeah…" she took the box from his hands and sat in the chair that was next to the table that was in the opposite corner of where Emma sat. "Thank you…for the salad. You and Emma should stay here tonight; I'll take Neal and Henry. I'm certain that Neal will keep Roland entertained giving Henry a break for one night."

"Thank you, Regina." I said it with utmost sincerity. "You're helping really means a lot to us."

"Well, it's the least that I can do, you are family."

* * *

"Well, I should take the kids home now, I'm sure that Henry has some homework that needs to be finished." I wasn't ready for Regina to leave, I had wanted to speak with her alone for a minute, but I never really found the right time.

"Hey Regina," Emma called as she pulled herself up from the chair and away from the game that she was playing on her phone, "can you wait a couple of minutes, I wanted to take the boys to the gift shop to pick something out for Mom…" Oh my ever perceptive daughter. I understood where Henry got it and I was grateful that she did pick up on the hints that I had dropped throughout the afternoon of my wanting to talk to Regina. Now I just had to ask Charming to give us a minute. "That means you too, Dad," she finished as she linked her arm around his to pull him along while Henry lifted Neal into his arms.

"Why me?"

"Because I need money…just come on."

"Ah…sure."

"So what do you want to talk to me about?" Regina beat me to the punch as soon as the door closed behind my exiting family members.

"How'd you know?"

"You said it before…Emma's 'subtle as a chainsaw' approach."

"Ah, yes. Well that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Ah…" Regina nodded her head showing me that she understood. The older woman used the chair that was next to my bed to get a little more comfortable.

"First," I started, "I wanted to say thank you."

"Thank you? For what?"

"For being there for them…I know it wasn't easy for any of you. But also, your eye opening chat that we had…I'm glad that you remember."

"You remember too?" It was more like a statement rather than a question.

"Yes. I didn't tell them…About any of it."

"Ok."

"And I don't want them to know. Especially David, he doesn't need to know that I saw him at his worst. I still don't think that I understand what I was meant to learn or take away from that experience, but I'm thankful that you were there to help me through it. I know that our relationship has been tumultuous, at best, for many years."

"Tumultuous…Mary Margaret…I…" I put my hand up to stop her. This was my time to talk to her.

"We have come so very far passed it all. Let's not go back there. Let's just be a family."

She closed her eyes and nodded in acceptance. We agreed and in my mind there would be no going back. "You know, when Henry came in today and told us that you offered to take Neal for the night, being grateful was not the first thought that came to my mind."

Regina arched her brow in confusion, "It didn't."

"No…" I emphasized the word by shaking my head. "No the first thought that came to my mind was that 'this is what it must feel like to have a parent present in your adult life.' Regina, too many times I said that you WERE my stepmother or Henry's Mother. But the truth is that you ARE my stepmother; you always have been. We just had a rough time with the awkward teenage years." We both laughed at that last comment. "So thank you."

"You're" her voice cracked when she started to speak and I could tell that she was trying to hold back the emotion as she cleared her throat. "You're welcome."

I smiled at her and she returned it with a smile of her own, "And just to be clear, there is no way in HELL that your kids are going to call me grandma." She looked away to wipe the moisture away from her eyes. This was the Regina that I knew was always in was in there. It was the Regina that I wanted to have as my stepmother.

"It looks like the trip to the gift shop was a little faster than I thought it would be." When she saw my look of confusion she pointed over her shoulder with her thumb toward the hallway. "The rest of the…family…is standing in the hallway," she summarized with a smile. "I'm going to collect the boys and get them home."

"Thank you, Regina." She gave me a smile and a nod as she exited the room.

Not long after Regina left, Emma entered. "Hey, Mom…" she seemed hesitant. "Can I get you anything?"

I lifted my hand to wave her further into the room, "No, honey. I'm fine. Where's your father?"

She quickly peeked through the window but then answered, "He's getting Neal ready to go with Regina. You need him? I can…"

"No." I said quickly; maybe a little too quickly. "No, honey, come here." I patted the open space on my bed, telling her that I wanted her to sit close to me. "Are you ok?" I inquired when she finally sat in the designated spot.

"Seriously? You're the one in the hospital…"

"I know exactly where I am and how I am. What I don't know is how my daughter is doing, so I'm asking, are you ok?"

She looked back at the door, I wasn't sure if she was hoping that someone would enter and interrupt my questioning, if anyone was in earshot, or if she was just checking to see if the door was closed. "Emma?" I pulled her attention back to me.

"Yeah…" she finally answered a little sheepishly. "I'm fine."

"Ok, so now that you've told me what you think that I want to hear, how about telling me the truth."

"Really, I'm ok….now…" I didn't push her, when she used the word now I could tell that she was going to elaborate, I just needed to give her the time that she needed to collect her thoughts.

"I was worried, frustrated, scared, you name it...I went off on Dad."

"I know…"

"You do?"

"He told me that you yelled at him."

Emma signed. "Yeah…"

"But from what I understand, it was what he needed."

"I'm sorry, Mom, but I didn't know how else to get through to him."

"Don't be sorry…I seem to remember someone telling her father regarding myself…and correct me if I'm wrong…'I think it's time to give the hot cocoa and foot massages a rest. It's time to haul her ass out of bed and get her to move past this.' Was that right?"

"Yeah…"she said behind a laugh as she looked down at the floor.

"See there, your tough loved worked then and it worked now. And sometimes, it's just the kick in the ass that a parent needs. Now, come here…" I reached my arms up to pull her into a hug. I held her tight, I didn't want to let go and for a couple of minutes she let me hold her.

As the evening progressed on, Charming and Emma spent some wonderful quality time with me. We watched a movie, play some cards, and David went on a much needed hot chocolate with cinnamon run. It was about 11 pm when Emma gave into sleep and curled up on the chair in the corner. David and I both tried to convince her to go home but she was having none of it. He gently climbed on my bed and settled down next to me. He put his arm around me and pulled me near.

"How are you feeling?" he asked again. It was probably about the 100th time that night.

"Sore…but on the mend."

"Yeah…well, I have to tell you that you ruined our plans for the day?"

"I did? How?"

"Well, I had it all planned out to take the kids, Regina, and Killian out for breakfast and to cut down a Christmas tree. But you went and woke up from your coma," he joked.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry."

"Don't be…" he said as he kissed the side of my head.

"Wait, Christmas tree? What day is it?"

"December 19th, why? Was there something that you needed?"

"Well…" I stopped to pause as a thought crossed my mind. "No…I have everything that I ever wanted…Hope, Family, and love." That was what my experience had been about. It was showing me that I had the three most important things with the six most important people in my life…David, Emma, Neal, Henry, Regina, and Killian…My FAMILY!


End file.
